Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

WWE: The Best of Sting Blu-ray Movie Review

Matches, matches, and more matches.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 24, 2014

Though his look would change with practically every match and his persona would transform from California bodybuilder to mystery figure up in the rafters, Sting remained the one constant throughout his wrestling career, the (many) face(s) of WCW and one of the most identifiable, beloved, and skilled wrestlers of his, or any, generation. What started as a career on the Venice Beach muscle scene and ownership of a gym that Hulk Hogan attended -- Sting didn't even know who Hogan was at the time -- eventually blossomed into a promising career that saw him become a legend in sports entertainment. Steve Borden's life isn't so much a focus of this piece, but his career is, a career that saw him paired with The Ultimate Warrior in his early days and, later, the biggest rival to two of his fellow superstars, Ric Flair and Vader. The piece, through tiny segments scattered between matches, highlights his early days as the blonde, flattop, face-painted character and his evolution towards a lone wolf mystery figure modeled after Brandon Lee's character in The Crow. It further looks at his "free agency" and refusal to join the nWo and, finally, allying himself with the notorious "Wolfpac."

All hail the sting.

The Best of Sting is a basic WWE compilation piece in the tradition of the Goldberg release in that its main focus is providing a lengthy assortment of matches rather than tell a fuller, richer story. Background information on Sting is sparse and scattered across both discs in the form of small narrated segments and interviews, a few of which are newly minted and many of which feature Sting in vintage clips from the 80s and 90s. Fans looking for something more in the tradition of the Stone Cold Steve Austin or CM Punk Blu-ray releases may be disappointed. The good news, however, is that this set comes packed to the gils with matches and features a good assortment of additional matches and several classic moments under the "Blu-ray Exclusives" tab on disc two. It's a day's worth of content that chronologically follows Sting across his career arc, from his early days as part of The Blade Runners all the way to his time with the Wolfpac.

The following matches and moments comprise The Best of Sting:

Disc One:

• Career Match: Blade Runners vs. Bret Wayne Sawyer and Sean O'Reilly. UWF Power Pro Wrestling -- April 1986.
• Career Match: Sting & Rick Steiner vs. Mike Rotundo and Ron Simmons. NWA Southern Pro Wrestling -- May 19, 1987.
• NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Sting vs. Ric Flair. NWA Pro Wrestling -- January 2, 1988.
• Career Match: Sting vs. Stan Lane. Main Event -- October 2, 1988.
• Career Match: Sting vs. Butch Reed. Main Event -- March 26, 1989.
• NWA World Television Championship Match: Sting vs. Mike Rotundo. WCW World Championship Wrestling -- April 1, 1989.
• Career Match: Sting vs. Ron Simmons. WCW Power Hour -- August 18, 1989.
• NWA World Television Championship Match: Sting vs. Great Muta. WCW Power Hour -- September 1, 1989.
• NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match: Sting vs. Ric Flair. Great American Bash -- July 7, 1990.
• Career Match: Sting vs. Dutch Mantel. Main Event -- September 2, 1990.
• Career Match: Sting vs. Nikita Koloff. Clash of the Champions -- June 14, 1991.
• Career Match: Sting & Great Muta vs. The Steiner Brothers. Tokyo, Japan -- January 4, 1992.
• Bounty Match: Sting vs. Vader. WCW Worldwide -- February 9, 1992.
• Career Match: Sting & Barry Windham & Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes vs. Dangerous Alliance.
• Career Match: Sting vs. Diamond Dallas Page. WCW Saturday Night -- June 13, 1992.
• Career Match: Sting vs. Barry Windham. WCW Saturday Night -- February 6, 1993.
• Career Match: Sting vs. Stunning Steve Austin. WCW Pro Wrestling -- January 8, 1994.
• Viewer's Choice Match: Sting vs. Ric Flair. Nitro -- November 6, 1995.
• Career Match: Sting vs. Arn Anderson. Nitro -- July 8, 1996.
• Career Match: Sting & "Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Nasty Boys. WCW Saturday Night -- July 27, 1996.

Disc Two:

• Career Moment: Sting Becomes Free Agent. Nitro -- October 21, 1996.
• WCW World Championship Match: Sting vs. Hollywood Hogan. Starrcade -- December 28, 1997.
• Career Match: Sting & Lex Luger vs. Hulk Hogan & "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Nitro -- February 16, 1998.
• Career Match: Sting vs. Kevin Nash. Nitro -- April 6, 1998.
• Career Match: Sting vs. Scott Steiner. Thunder -- April 22, 1998.
• Career Match: Sting & Kevin Nash vs. Harlem Heat. Nitro -- June 15, 1998.
• Career Match: Sting & Warrior vs. Bret "Hit Man" Hart and Hollywood Hogan. Nitro -- October 12, 1998.
• Career Match: Sting vs. Bret "Hit Man" Hart. Nitro -- October 19, 1998.
• Career Match: Sting vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Nitro -- June 7, 1999.
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Sting vs. Booker T. Nitro -- July 31, 2000.
• 2 Out of 3 Falls Match: Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett. Thunder -- September 13, 2000.
• Career Match: Sting, Booker T & Goldberg vs. Jeff Jarrett & KroniK. Thunder -- October 25, 2000.
• Career Match: Sting vs. Ric Flair. Nitro -- March 26, 2001.

WWE: The Best of Sting Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Best of Sting features the standard WWE Home Video 1080i encode. The feature presents viewers with both 1.33:1 and 1.78:1 material. It's predominantly made up of the former. Matches are presented in the original 4x3 ratio by which they were originally aired years ago, preserving the visual integrity of each match. Segments between matches, of which there are only a few, expand older footage to fill the HD screen at 1.78:1. Most of it is vintage material; Sting interviews and career highlight clips are the dominant presence, but there are a few scattered HD interview clips throughout that amount to mere minutes of screen time. These segments provide typically clear and accurate footage. While not dynamic, it's steady and clean, presenting viewers with solid details and robust colors with only minimal distractions in the form of blocking and banding. The SD image varies in quality, of course, but generally looks fine given the constraints. It's very much watchable, particularly considering that content, not appearance, dominates the proceedings.

WWE: The Best of Sting Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Best of Sting features the WWE-standard Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. It's a rather flat, basic piece that lacks the fidelity that might be found on newer material. Older matches are frequently a bit indistinct and absent much clarity, but as Sting's career progresses the in-match audio tightens up considerably, offering more dynamic in-arena music (who can forget the legendary Wolfpac beats) and crisper ringside commentary. Voiceover narration plays cleanly and evenly from the center. New interview clips also deliver accurate, center-focused dialogue. This track offers little in terms of dynamic or exciting sound design. About the best it has to offer is scattered crowd noise and music that at least help set the stage with as much precision and immersion possible given the source material's constraints.

WWE: The Best of Sting Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Best of Sting contains the following bonuses on disc two, all labeled as "Blu-ray Exclusives." No supplements are included on disc one.

• Career Moment: Blade Runners & Eddie Gilbert Interview. UWF -- April 7, 1986.
• NWA World Tag Team Championship: Sting & Barry Windham vs. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard. NWA Power Pro Wrestling -- January 16, 1988.
• Career Moment: "Ric Flair of the 80s." NWA Pro Wrestling -- February 26, 1988.
• Career Moment: Sting Wins PWI Most Popular Wrestler. Clash of the Champions -- November 15, 1989.
• Career Moment: Sting Imitates His Adversaries. WCW World Championship Wrestling -- December 9, 1989.
• Career Moment: "Horsemen Fever." WCW World Championship Wrestling -- January 20, 1990.
• Career Moment: Sting and The Four Horsemen. WCW World Championship Wrestling -- January 27, 1990.
• Career Moment: Gordon Solie Interviews Sting. Worldwide -- February 10, 1990.
• Career Moment: JR Visits Sting in the Hospital. WCW World Championship Wrestling -- February 17, 1990.
• Career Moment: RoboCop Vigilante. Worldwide -- April 28, 1990.
• Career Moment: Wrestling Wrap-Up on Sting Winning World Championship. Worldwide -- July 14, 1990.
• Career Moment: Sting as World Champion. Worldwide -- July 21, 1990.
• Career Moment: The Danger Zone w/Sting. WCW Pro Wrestling -- July 21, 1990.
• Career Match: Sting vs. Big Van Vader. WCW Saturday Night -- October 15, 1994.
• Career Match: Sting & Hulk Hogan vs. The Bruise Brothers. Worldwide -- November 7, 1994.
• Career Moment: Sting and Lex Luger in the Production Truck. Nitro -- August 5, 1996.
• Career Moment: Sting Joins the nWo Wolfpac. Nitro -- June 1, 1998.
• Career Moment: Sting & Lex Luger vs. British Bulldog & Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. Nitro -- June 20, 1998.
• Career Moment: Sting's Final Promo in WCW. Nitro -- March 26, 2001.

WWE: The Best of Sting Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While a deeper, more intimate, and complete retrospective would have been preferable to what is, basically, a piecemeal but linear recount of Sting's life and career in the form of short clips, The Best of Sting at least provides fans with about seven hours of pure wrestling content -- not to mention the bonus content -- that itself does a tremendous job of telling Sting's story where it was truly written: in the ring (and, later, sometimes, in the rafters). Fans who are looking to this release for a more traditional Documentary style film supported by matches will be disappointed, but viewers who want to relive the best of the best of Sting's legendary career need look no further. WWE Home Video's Blu-ray release of The Best of Sting features quality video, adequate lossy audio, and a healthy assortment of bonus matches and moments from Sting's career. Recommended.